


Fever

by PastelPrinceYuki



Category: EXO (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Exo-L is cute, M/M, Realization, there really isn't much to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 03:05:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15427641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelPrinceYuki/pseuds/PastelPrinceYuki
Summary: Exo-L has fever and Army decides to take care of him. He soon comes to realize something.





	Fever

**Author's Note:**

> And another fic that has been sitting in my files waiting to be published. I have A LOT of unfinished Exo-L/Army oneshots so I'm gonna try to finish them all and publish them here, before continuing my so called 'main fanfic' that has multiple chapters. These short oneshots are sort of practice for me so I can improve my writing (and my English), but also develop these characters more in my mind to make it easier to write them. Leave a kudos if you liked this and comments are always appreciated!

Exo-L walked down the hallway stumbling little in his steps, forcing himself to stay up. He felt hot and dizzy, seeing the surroundings almost in double. His throat felt like sandpaper even though he just drank whole bottle of water. Licking his lips, Exo-L managed to get to the stairs leaning against the railing. He looked up and sighed.

Man felt tired, all of his limbs aching in pain. He didn't want to climb up, but what choice did he have?

He had to write a blog post about Exo’s latest concert in Seoul. He had to read the comments and defend Exo’s reputation if needed. There were people hating on them, making their life more difficult and Exo-L needed to stop that. No, he had to. 

The work never seemed to end. He needed to show the endless support towards the group, even if it meant to burn himself out.

No, it wasn't possible. He never burnt himself out. Never in his life had he stopped working, always pushing forward. Write blog posts, write comments, vote, create projects, check the latest news, check their social media for new posts, listen to their songs, stream, watch their dramas, watch their movies, keep up the hype in concerts, socialize with fellow L’s, defend them, fight the haters, keep the peace between other fandoms, have good relationship with others, stay up for their live streams, be there for them, call out the crazy fans, argue with them, reason with them, support other groups, deny rumors.

_Just exist for the fans and the group in general._

Exo-L’s breathing hitched as he grabbed railing, trembling little. There was still so much work to do. If he didn't do it, he would fail. One tiny mistake and his work would go down the drain alongside with Exo’s hard work. He couldn't afford it. Not again. 

He just had to keep walking. It was just thirteen steps more. Not much, he could do this. He wasn't that weak, no. He was strong. He'd proven it with his prestige and power. He was strong. No sickness could hold him down. He had to prove it to others. He was strong! He was-

At that moment his legs finally gave away and he staggered falling backwards, but the hit never came. Somebody was holding him steady and he turned his head to see tall broad shouldered man with a worried expression on his face.

“Are you alright?”

Great. Out of all people it had to be Army. That arrogant loudmouthed child minded bastard. Exo-L pulled himself up and with sheer willpower kept his posture.

“I'm fine. I just tripped,” he snorted. Army jumped in front of him, appearing even taller,blocking the path like a mountain. “No you're not! I've seen you today and I know there's something wrong with you!” he exclaimed. Eyeing his face for a bit, Army placed his hands on Exo-L neck and forehead. 

“Holy shit you're burning up!” he shouted in shock. He stuttered bit in his words, but managed to get his sentence out: “How can you say you're fine with a raging fever like that?!”

Exo-L sighed.

“It's fine I can heal myself,” he mumbled. It was a lie. Well not completely. His power levels were dangerously low, because he used them to heal. But with little to no energy it did almost nothing. Vice versa, he was making the situation worse. And Army knew it too. He wasn't that stupid, despite the goofy impression he gave.

Exo-L felt his wrist being pulled, but didn't fight it. “Uh-huh and with what energy?” Army asked almost sassily, staring at his smart watch.

Older man sighed pulling his arm back and continued his way. He had no time for arguing and ignored the other one. The post had to be made.

But Army was having none of that. He easily lifted Exo-L up and carried him bridal style upstairs. Exo-L didn't fight it, let alone complain about it. In that state it was impossible to fight against the younger man.

Army entered the man’s room, carefully placing him down on his bed. “Take off your clothes and I'll give you some comfy ones. I'll go make something to boost your energy up. And you WILL stay in here. You won't leave the bed, got it?” he said while opening the closet, searching for softer clothes. Exo-L mumbled something, but Army decided to ignore it.

He gave him new clothes and left the room. Exo-L silently complied unbuttoning his shirt and toss it at the foot of the bed. Opening the belt and his pants, he slid them off and placed them on top of his shirt. He had to take a moment to collect his breath, because even a small activity like that took a toll on his health. The fever was rising at an alarming rate.

Exo-L struggled the sweatpants and shirt on, finally getting to lie down. He was aching all over the place. Never in his lifetime had he been this sick and weak. Others always worried over his health for working non-stop, barely even taking breaks and ignoring any signs of needing a rest. And now it backfired. He could only blame himself for being stupid, but he couldn’t really help it; he was a workaholic.  

An hour passed by and the man heard a soft knock on his door. Army peeked in before entering the room, balancing a tray on his arm. “I made some soup for you. This should make you feel better,” he said and placed the tray on Exo-L’s lap. He removed the cover, revealing a bowl of soup that had beautiful yellow tone to it, chopped carrots giving it more vibrant color and parsley decorating the dish.

“Chicken noodle soup?” Exo-L asked raising an eyebrow.

“Classic,” Army smirked and winked.

Exo-L then noticed the small bread basket next to the bowl. “You seriously cut and heated some French loaf for me?” he asked amused and grabbed it, taking a closer look. “And you even applied garlic butter on them,” he blurted looking up at him.

“Well, I might have noticed some of your dining habits,” Army said innocently even though he still had that smug grin on his face.

The older man was loss for words. “I… Don’t know what to say,” he finally spoke up. “Well usually this is the part where people say ‘thank you’,” Army answered sarcastically, earning a ‘I’m-so-done-with-you’ -look.

Exo-L sighed and sat up better leaning his back against the headboard. He stared at his food for awhile, before raising his gaze.

“Thank you,” he said giving his rare genuine smile. Army froze staring at Exo-L. He has never seen him smile like that. Well, yes he has, but it was never meant for him. It was always because of his group achieved something or his family member succeed at something, but it was never towarded anyone else.

That smile made him look happy, peaceful and… Pretty.

Army shook his head and coughed. “I also brought you this big water bottle so you don’t have to fill it so often. Fever dehydrates you a lot so remember to drink,” said and placed the bottle on the nightstand.

Exo-L eyed the bottle suspiciously. “Where did you get that?” he asked.

“I found it in the fridge,” Army answered.

The older man raised his eyebrow and said bluntly: “So you stole someone else’s water bottle?”

“Mmm ‘stole’ is such a strong word. I prefer calling this ‘borrowing’,” Army said eloquently.

Exo-L crossed his arms still giving the look, causing the younger man to huff. “Okay fine, it’s Ikonic’s. But he doesn’t need it right now and I’m sure he won’t mind borrowing it to his sick friend. Besides I can buy him new one if he really needs it,” he said. Exo-L sighed and pinched bridge of his nose.

“Eat before the food gets cold,” Army nodded towards meal and left the room. Exo-L watched after him and grabbed the spoon, tasting the soup. Shit, it was really delicious. He knows Army is a good cook, but with this one... It seems like he made it with extra care.  

“You’re spoiling me way too much,” he mumbled to himself with a laugh and ate his food in silence.

\---

The evening slowly turned into a night and the moon rose high on the sky. Army finished reading a book and looked at the clock realizing how late it was. He got up stretching his arms and back, making his way upstairs, but stopped at the door in front of him. Carefully opening the door and taking a peek, he saw Exo-L fast asleep, tray placed on his nightstand and the water bottle was half way empty.

Quietly sneaking in, Army went to grab the tray, but then looked at Exo-L.

He was snuggled up against the pillow, hugging it tightly, blanket kicked on the other side of the bed. Army slowly placed the tray back down and grabbing the blanket, pulling it over the man. He straightened it little before realized how close he was to Exo-L’s face. Man tensed up his heart beating faster, loudly thumping against his chest. He leaned in, gently brushing the hair away from Exo-L’s face and placed a kiss on his cheek. He stared at the man’s face admiring his beauty, before quickly pulled up slightly blushing, scolding himself.

He took the tray and quickly, but quietly exited the room. With his free hand he clutched his chest and leaned against the door. “What the hell am I doing?” he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. Walking back downstairs, going to the kitchen he almost threw the tray into the sink tableware clattering loudly against each other and leaned against the counter cursing.

“Calm down before you break something. Again,” a female voice startled Army.

“Blink?” he asked baffled. The woman, younger than him, was sitting at the table reading a magazine while eating snacks. “What’s gotten into you?” she asked munching on the small biscuit. “Nothing,” Army quickly said and was about a quick leave, but was interrupted by the other mocking: “You’re the worst liar ever.”

Army stopped on his tracks and sighed. Blink tilted her head examining his presence and smacked her lips, before kicking the chair across her further, motioning him to take a seat. Man took a deep breath and walked over, sitting down and stayed quiet staring at the table. 

“So,” Blink broke the silence after Army refused to speak up: “What’s up?” Man was quiet for a minute, but finally spoke up: “I’m mad at myself for being stupid and sure, I sometimes act before thinking, but now I’m just really disappointed myself.”

Blink leaned her head on her hand listening. “What did you do?” she asked. Army refused to look at her, trying to tell the truth and after stumbling few times on his words he finally got to say: “I kissed Exo-L’s cheek.”

The young woman just stared at him and then laughed: “That’s it? You kissed Exo-L on the cheek and now you’re whole life has been turned upside down?” she stare at him for a second before bursting out laughing. She clung to her stomach hitting the table with quite force, almost howling now. “Oh bro that’s adorable. That’s very adorable,” she giggled wiping her tears.

“What’s so funny about it?” Army pouted. “What’s so funny-? You just gave a small smoochie on a guy’s cheek and now you’re flipping the fuck out about it like what are you, a rookie?” she stated. Man buried his face in his hands, letting out a frustrated sigh: “It’s not that simple!”

Blink covered her mouth and tried to control herself so she wouldn’t burst out laughing again. “Oh what next? You’re catching up feelings, because of it?” she joked, but Army’s blank expression conveyed the answer very clearly.

“Oh,” was the only thing she said, when she realized it. “Yeah exactly! And now I’m so confused like he’s stubborn, poshy and strict and I’m supposed to hate him, because fuck that attitude, but I can’t help feeling my heart skip every time he pouts or feel lightheaded everytime he touches me for healing and fuck Blink he smiled at me today! Smiled! And I don’t mean that fake smile or ‘I’ll-give-three-seconds-to-run’ -smile, no! He gave me his warm and authentic smile that almost nobody ever sees, except Sone and Elf, but they’re different! ” Army suddenly bursted, not even pausing to take a breath.

Blink just stared at him not knowing how to process the sudden information flood pouring from the older man. Army sighed sounding defeated: “He just looked so cute. He looked so cute I felt like my heart was going burst, if I didn’t comply with a small kiss on his cheek. I couldn’t help myself, he’s too adorable.”

The woman sat there staring at his helpless best friend, agonizing how could she help him. “Well I really don’t know how to-” she started, but was quickly cut off by Army’s question: “How did you tell Once?”

Blink was take aback, but then just chuckled staring off lovingly: “We both kinda clicked since the beginning. We were pretty good team, but we both knew there was more to our friendship. Like we knew without saying that we could be more. We had the right chemistry, so one beautiful evening she confessed to me that she liked me, I told her I felt the same, we kissed and rest is history.”

Army listened closely and she looked at him smiling: “But that’s not how it would go for you. I know you and Exo-L are supposedly ‘different’ from each other, but when you really think about it you two are actually pretty similar. Getting what you want without letting anyone or anything stop you, strongly defending yourself and of course, you’re both so fucking stubborn. You two are like immovable object and unstoppable force. That’s why for you I suggest staying true to yourself. I know your threats hold no meaning and the insults are pointless at this point so instead of wasting your breath on those, how about you try to become more closer to him. I don’t mean become clingy, but you get what I’m saying.”

The man slowly nodded and stood up. He looked like he was deep in his thoughts, but Blink interrupted him: “Hey, don’t think about it too much. You’ll be fine. After all, you got your bestfriends to back you up. We promise to be civil.”

Army snickered shaking his head: “And somehow I doubt that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Blink said innocently. The man smiled and turned around to walk away. “Don’t stay up too late,” he reminded and disappeared to the hallway. Blink chuckled and went back to reading her magazine.

Things just got more interesting.


End file.
